LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

prayers were offered for his recovery in his college chapel. Cambridge had already lost another promising batsman when Maurice Turnbull had been forced to withdraw from the university for a year due to an injury, so now the batting strength looked as weak as the bowling. The poor quality of the batting seemed to have been confirmed when facing a strong eleven from Nottinghamshire, including Larwood, Cambridge crashed to 21 for three. But then Robbie joined Dawson and together they added 111 for the fourth wicket before Robbie was caught and bowled by Staples for 96. In the second innings he was unbeaten on 54 when the game ended in a draw. An impressed Dawson decided to withdraw Robbie from the bowling attack to concentrate on his new batting skills and promoted him to second wicket down for the remaining games leading up to the Lord’s match in July. Robbie repaid this vote of confidence by scoring 364 runs in his nine innings at an average of 40.44. Against Oxford at Lord’s in the centenary Varsity match, despite Robbie‘s top score of 55, Cambridge struggled to reach 178, but in reply to Oxford‘s 149, made amends with 349 for nine declared, including a quick 41 from Robbie, batting at four. A target of 379 was beyond Oxford and Cambridge won by 116 runs. Moving on to join Middlesex for their next seven county matches, six away and one at Lord’s, Robbie was not able to repeat any of his previous Cambridge form. Dropped down into the middle order he managed to score only 105 runs in eight innings and to capture two wickets at the cost of 105 runs. There would be time for some more coaching and practice with Ian Peebles at the Faulkner School but his thoughts were soon turned from control of the flight of the cricket ball to possession and control of a football. Appointed captain at Cambridge his new priority was to put together a team finally capable of beating Oxford in December. He may have felt a tinge of jealousy when he bade farewell to his friend Ian Peebles and Cambridge cricket captain Eddie Dawson, who were sailing away on an MCC tour of South Africa, but he would soon be totally immersed in football training and practice. Robbie’s popularity at Cambridge as a result of his important contributions to a successful cricket team, plus the decision to make him captain of the football team, appear to have over-ruled any suggestion of his rustication when he once again was absent from the examination room. In fact, his College now offered him accommodation within the College itself and for his final year at university he shared a staircase with Nigel Wykes, who would join him as a regular member of the Cambridge cricket team that summer, play for Essex, become a teacher at Eton and eventually housemaster for Robbie’s sons Charles and Richard. Robbie was taking control of a squad of players composed almost entirely of freshmen and the first trials demonstrated that ball control was poor and passing inaccurate, so Robbie’s first decision was to move himself in to midfield from the wing in order that he could exercise greater influence over the flow of play. Cambridge won 12 of their matches, which was twice as many as they lost, including a repeat of the 1925 victory over Tottenham 23 Cambridge and Aubrey Faulkner